We’d never heard of Chicken California until it appeared in Cook’s Country April/May 2015 (p12). Turns out it’s chicken braised in a cornmeal-thickened sauce, with olives and flaked almonds added to serve. This sounds like it’s right up our street, plus we had some chicken thighs in the freezer that needed using up.

All the cooking is done on the hob. It starts with browning the chicken, then frying off onion and garlic, adding wine and stock, then returning to the chicken and cooking lid-on to braise it.

Once cooked it’s transferred to plates, and olives and flaked almonds are added, along with some leftover potatoes from earlier in the week and kale.